


the deal.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: captured moments. [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, One Shot Collection, Professor Ben Solo, Short One Shot, Waiters & Waitresses, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22288600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: She walked away before Ben could say anything else, and when he turned his attention back to Poe, he sighed heavily at the look on his face.  “Stop.”“You have a crush on my waitress,” Poe said, beaming.or:  Ben's back in the café, Rey's once again his waitress, and Poe finds out something Ben wishes he hadn't.
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: captured moments. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602691
Comments: 10
Kudos: 77





	the deal.

**Author's Note:**

> I have this like entire Professor Ben Solo storyline in my head, and I decided that instead of writing some massively long multi-chaptered story, I'd write it out in one-shots. So that's what this is. This is the third one and hopefully, you'll want to follow along and read where this goes as I post the next stories.
> 
> And as always, if you like what you've read here, please let me know via a comment or a kudos or a bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. Enjoy!

The café was extremely busy when Ben walked in, and he contemplated turning around and leaving. Before he could do so, Rose came up to him with a smile. “Glad that you came in today, Ben. Poe was just saying that he needed to talk to you about something.”

Ben just shook his head. “Of course he was. Any tables left?”

She turned and looked for a moment. “There's one left in the back.”

“Then lead on.”

Rose grabbed a menu and showed Ben to the table, getting his drink order out of him before walking away. Poe sat down across from him a few moments later, and Ben gave him a friendly smile. “Place is busy today.”

“Generally is on a Saturday. You usually aren't in here on the weekends,” Poe said. “So that means there is a reason why you're in here today.”

“Just didn't feel like cooking,” Ben said, picking up the menu. “That's all.”

“If you think I don't know what you're like when you're lying by now, you are sorely mistaken, Ben,” Poe said. “But I am glad that you're here because I needed to talk to you. And I didn't want to do it when Snap could just walk into the apartment.”

Ben tilted the menu down so he could look at him. “What on earth are you talking about, Poe? There's not a thing in the world that you don't tell Snap first.”

“Except for things like this,” Poe said, and Ben immediately knew what he was talking about.

“You ran into Zorii.”

“I ran into Zorii,” Poe confirmed. “And fuck, she's prettier than I remembered.”

“What's she doing in town?”

“She's moved back, apparently, which is great.”

Ben just shook his head. “So, what did you do?”

“I did absolutely nothing,” Poe said seriously. “This is something that needs to be handled delicately.”

“I think that it could be handled a little less delicately than you're thinking.”

“Says the one who is not the moron that let the girl of his dreams get away,” Poe said, shaking his head.

“You are lucky that she even talks to you anymore,” Ben pointed out.

“I am aware of that, hence why it needs to be handled delicately,” Poe said, smiling when Rey approached the table. 

“Here is your coffee and water,” she said, setting them on the table. “Are you ready to order, Ben?”

“Not even close,” Ben said, shaking his head. “How's _Macbeth_?”

“Not finished yet,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Thank you for all of that, by the way. You didn't have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” Ben said, smiling back. “And I meant what I said in that note.”

“Which one?” Rey asked before hearing her name be called out. “I'll be back to get your order in a few.”

She walked away before Ben could say anything else, and when he turned his attention back to Poe, he sighed heavily at the look on his face. “Stop.”

“You have a crush on my waitress,” Poe said, beaming. 

“I am thirty-five-years-old. I don't have crushes.”

“It's a crush,” Poe stressed. “This is the first time I've known you to be interested in a girl for more than one night since at least your senior year of college.”

“You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about,” Ben said, picking the menu back up. “Let's get back to talking about you and Zorii and this delicate situation.”

“No, we are totally talking about you and your crush on Rey,” Poe countered. “This is an amazing development.”

“This is not a development of any kind. As for you and Zorii, I would suggest getting her to engage in a longer conversation than you had to have been in this random moment of running into her.”

“I agree with you on that, but you're not changing the subject on me, Solo.”

Ben just shook his head and kept his eyes on the menu. “Since when do you have baked macaroni and cheese on the menu?”

“For at least the last six months,” Poe said, reaching out and grabbing the menu from Ben's hands. “And you are not getting out of this conversation.”

“There is absolutely nothing to have a conversation about,” Ben said, grabbing the menu back.

“Then explain to me why you're talking to her about _Macbeth_.”

“Rey apparently wanted to take my class when she was a student but couldn't get in. I have spoken to her a bit about it and then encouraged her to read _Macbeth_. That's all.”

“But she thanked you for something that was clearly more than just a reading recommendation.”

Ben set the menu down and ran his hands over his face. “You are almost as bad as my mother. I hope you know that.”

“Please, Leia's worse and you know it,” Poe said. “Tell me.”

Ben sat there for a moment before groaning. “Okay, so I might have given her my copy of _Macbeth_.”

Poe's eyes widened. “The copy you've had since high school?”

“Yes,” Ben said, reaching for his coffee. “And I might have given her something else too.”

“And what was that?”

“I don't have to answer that.”

Poe gave Ben a look. “Yes, you do.”

Ben took a long sip of his coffee and realized that he had no way out of this. “I gave her a hundred dollars so she could go buy some books.”

Poe's jaw dropped. “A hundred dollars? How the fuck did you have the kind of money to do that?”

“The university gave me a raise,” Ben said. “And it's just me. There's no one else to support on my salary. So, it's not something that I can afford to be doing all of the time, but it's something I could afford to do this time. It's not a big deal.”

“Ben, first you gave her a twenty-dollar tip. Now you've given her a hundred dollars to buy books. That is a big deal.”

Ben stayed sitting there staring at Poe until Rey came back, smiling at her. “You seem busy today.”

“This is the busiest it's been since I've been working here, and I've been more than a little overwhelmed at certain moments, but I think that I've handled it all pretty well,” Rey said, smiling back. “Hopefully, Poe agrees with that.”

“You're doing great, Rey,” Poe said, giving Ben a pointed look. “Ben was just telling me about how good you've been.”

Ben reached out and kicked Poe underneath the table. “You have been a very good waitress.”

Rey felt her cheeks warm. “Well, thank you. Are you ready to order?”

Ben ordered the macaroni and cheese that had caught his eye, and once Rey had walked away, he kicked Poe under the table again. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Trying to get you laid,” Poe replied.

“That is not going to be happening,” Ben said seriously. “The last thing I need is a girl to mess up my life.”

“Why do you think a girl would mess up your life? I'd think that it would make things go so much easier, especially when it comes to Leia.”

Ben sighed. “She wants to set me up with one of my grandparents' neighbors now. I wish she'd stop this.”

Poe nodded. “Well, one way to stop this is to actually find someone to date, and since you're already interested in her, you should just ask Rey out.”

“I am not asking Rey out,” Ben said firmly. “Stop.”

“I'll make you a deal. I'll ask Zorii out the next time I see her if you ask Rey out.”

“There is no way that you're going to ask Zorii out. I thought this situation required delicacy.”

“It does, but maybe you were right and it doesn't need to be handled quite as delicately as I thought.”

“I am not agreeing to this.”

“Yes, you are,” Poe said, smiling at him. “Or else I'm telling Leia that you met someone.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don't.” Poe sat there for a moment before sighing. “Come on, Ben. You've got to meet someone at some point. Maybe you've just finally done so.”

“Fine,” Ben said. “I will agree to your deal. But no time frame whatsoever.”

“If I let you get away with that, then you'll never do it,” Poe pointed out.

“That is not true.”

“Yes, it is,” Poe said, hearing his name called out. “I'll be back later. I really do need to talk to you about Zorii.”

“You're an idiot when it comes to her. I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, I do, trust me.”

Poe walked away and Ben reached into his bag, pulling out the book he was in the middle of reading. He was nearly forty pages past his bookmark by the time Rey approached the table with his food, and he looked up at her to see a frazzled look on her face. “What's wrong?”

“Oh, nothing,” Rey said dismissively. “I am so sorry about the food taking so long, but Finn's not working today and I have been told that means everything goes to shit. And then with as busy as we are...I'm just sorry.”

“Rey, it's fine,” Ben said, setting the book down and reaching for his silverware. “Just take a few deep breaths and try to calm down. That always helps me when my students are being assholes and constantly interrupting my lecture because their phones are going off.”

Rey took a couple of deep breaths before smiling. “I feel like I would have been one of those students. I can forget to put my phone on silent sometimes.”

Someone called out Rey's name before another word could be said, and she smiled at him. “Enjoy.”

Ben watched her walk away before turning his attention to his food, but as he ate, all he could think about was how Poe knowing that Ben was attracted to her was going to be a big problem. He had no intention of keeping up his end of the deal they'd made, and Poe had to have known that, which meant that he was going to do everything he could think of to make sure that Ben did ask Rey out. 

Ben was going to have to learn a lot more about her before he could even contemplate doing something like that. So far, all he knew was that she wanted to take his class when she was in college, she'd majored in art history, and she'd moved to America when she was ten. That was not enough to know that he wanted to do more than just make small talk while she brought him food and refilled his drinks. 

Rey was gorgeous though. That alone told him that she was completely and totally out of his league. Not that any of that mattered, because Ben was entirely too old for her anyway.

Somehow he knew Poe wasn't going to let him get away with that excuse.


End file.
